Sherrone Moore is head coach of the Wolverines, and the conference has expanded to 18 teams.
We are inching closer and closer to the start of the 2024 college football season, as Big Ten Media Days kicked off in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday.
Here are five key storylines we’re watching for at Big Ten Media Days.
Will Day, Lanning be among the conference’s top coaches?
Ohio State may have finished 2023 with an embarrassing loss in its bowl game, but Ryan Day and his Buckeyes are still being picked by the national media to win the conference this year. Day consistently ranks as the top coach in the Big Ten by media members ahead of 2024, and on his heels is Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.
Much like OSU, Lanning and the Ducks had a similar crash landing to end their 2023 season, losing to Washington in the Pac-12 title game and missing out on the College Football Playoff. However, both these looks dangerous heading into the new season, and both Lanning and Day have a legitimate shot at going far in the CFP thanks to veteran quarterbacks and five-star talent galore.
Can Moore continue Michigan’s success for a fourth straight season?
With the departure of Jim Harbaugh, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and other coaches to the NFL, along with 13 players drafted, very few people project Michigan to repeat as Big Ten champions in 2024. This is Sherrone Moore’s first trip to Media Days as head coach, and there’s bound to be talk about his ability to continue Michigan’s on-field success in the absence of Harbaugh.
Is this the year Penn State finally gets to the College Football Playoff?
Penn State has settled for third in recent seasons, having the disadvantage of playing Michigan and Ohio State every year. While James Franklin’s team is usually better than anyone in the Big Ten West, Franklin couldn’t beat Jim Harbaugh or Ryan Day enough to win the Big Ten East.
But now that divisions are a thing of the past, Franklin avoids a matchup against the Wolverines this year and gets Ohio State at home. With the playoff expanding, they’d likely be ranked high enough to finally make it in. With a third-year quarterback in Drew Allar, talented running backs and an always tough defense, they have a good shot at finally making it in this season.
Big Ten expands to 18 teams — who will end up at the bottom?
With the addition of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA, there is no question some more traditional Big Ten teams will end up even lower in the conference when the season is all said and done. While the Big Ten media poll projects Purdue to finish last, we could also see Illinois, Indiana, and even UCLA finishing the season near the bottom.
Which first-year head coach will provide the most turnaround this fall?
In addition to adding four new teams, the conference saw a lot of movement at the head coaching level. Washington lost head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama, so the Huskies hired Jedd Fisch away from Arizona. Michigan State decided to bring over Jonathan Smith from Oregon State , while DeShaun Foster takes over for Chip Kelly at UCLA. Indiana fired Tom Allen, who’s coaching the defense now for Penn State, and brought in Curt Cignetti from James Madison. Last but not least, there’s Moore at Michigan.
Of all these first-year head coaches, who do you expect to have the best finish in the conference this season? Let us know what you think about that or any of these other questions down in the comments!